Ji Qingyao found an opportunity to remind Pei Ningyuan when a group of people were focusing on potatoes. This allowed the potatoes in Xiaoxi Village to be sold to the government at a high price.
In the end, 30,000 kilograms of potatoes were dug up and used for sowing in Xiaoxi Village. The remaining 100,000 kilograms were taken away by Magistrate Shen at the price of eight cents per catty. Although the villagers regretted that they could not keep all the potatoes, at any rate On average, each household can earn around ten taels of silver from growing potatoes, which is pretty good.
The money was paid in advance by several adults who were accompanying him. Pei Ningyuan originally said that he could pay an IOU first and he could just go to the Yamen to pick it up tomorrow. In the end, the county magistrate had to find a few adults to scrape the money together in private. Fortunately, he could get it together, otherwise he would There is no room for his old face.
When the county magistrate first received the news from the state capital, he just wanted to go to Xiaoxi Village to see the planting results. Unexpectedly, the group came to Xiaoxi Village for inspection and met them digging potatoes. Thinking about the instructions from the superiors, they also thought about the secret. According to the content of the letter, he also attaches great importance to potatoes, which is a real political achievement.
So when Magistrate Shen looked at the villagers in Xiaoxi Village, especially Ji Qingyao, they had no official airs at all.
At Ji Qingyao's suggestion, Pei Ningyuan asked his wife to pick a few hard-working women in the village. Ji Qingyao would provide the food for the time being, and then use the village's public funds to supply Ji Qingyao. Finally, it was decided that Ji Qingyao would be in charge, and the rest would help. I had a potato feast and thoroughly enjoyed the meal for a group of people from the Yamen.
When the county magistrate left, he left a message that they would come to Xiaoxi Village to cause trouble when the sweet potatoes can be dug in half a month. Pei Ningyuan should not find them troublesome when he saw them.
Pei Ningyuan also took the time to write down a detailed method for growing potatoes and gave it to the county magistrate. He also said that if you have any questions, you can come to Xiaoxi Village and ask Ji Qingyao, because this girl discovered the seeds and the planting method was also provided by her. , he, the village chief, was just borrowing flowers to offer to the Buddha.
County Magistrate Shen had a higher opinion of Pei Ningyuan. He did not expect such a good performance opportunity. Since the village chief was not greedy for credit, he later thought of the contents of the secret letter. No matter what, Pei Ningyuan would not pretend to take credit from others. A practical person.
After everyone from the yamen left, Pei Ningyuan looked at the banknotes in his hand but had trouble. Fortunately, the manager of Beauty Square was there and said he could help Pei Ningyuan change the banknotes into loose coins. Pei Ningyuan said to Manager Deng Thank you directly.
The villagers looked at the money in their hands and wept with joy. Normally, they could only earn five taels of silver after planting crops for a year and doing various part-time jobs. But now, in less than half a year, they lost money because of that. Potato earns such a large amount of money.
Although the village head and the girl named Ji Qingyao said that they could make a small profit by growing potatoes and sweet potatoes in the first two years, when the court planted them on a large scale, the purchase price would not be so high. By then, these two crops would also be possible. When the taxes and grains are paid, no matter what, they are the first wave of people to do so. Just like the village chief said, it feels really good to be a crab eater for a while.
Everyone who received the money was beaming with joy, which made those who had not opened up wasteland to grow potatoes before full of envy, jealousy, and resentment. After the county magistrate and his entourage left, they all went to the village chief's house to buy seeds and plant potatoes as well.
This puts the village chief in a difficult position. After deducting those taken away by the yamen, the remaining seeds will be divided according to the previous number of households. His family's seeds can be planted on up to three acres of land. He also wants to plant several acres in two months. He said how much the potatoes could be sold for, saying that they could be used as both vegetables and food, and he was unwilling to share them with outsiders.
In the end, Ji Qingyao saw the village chief's embarrassment and took out all the potatoes from his house. He didn't ask for much and sold them to the villagers at the yamen's purchase price. At this time, Pei Mingche's stepmother, who was also Ji Qingyao's stepmother-in-law, jumped out and shouted, "Why?" There was no need to pay for the seeds before, but this time the seeds had to be purchased.
Ji Qingyao gave her a cold look and said in a calm voice: "Auntie, I spent real money to buy my seeds. When I planted these things, I saw that the village chief uncle and Aunt Jiang were I haven't accepted any money from you for the time being, but I have promised you that when the time comes to harvest, you will lend me one pound in exchange for one and a half pounds, or pay me the same amount of money as the government's purchase price. Anyone who receives my seeds will They are all signed and stamped.”
When Ji Qingyao said this, he glanced at everyone present and continued: "The signed documents were still at the village chief's house. It was your decision when you were afraid that the planting would fail and you would not receive the seeds. Now you will see a bumper harvest of food. If you want seeds, of course you have to pay for them, why don’t you think that I am your mother and want to raise you?”
"My man is a good man from Xiaoxi Village. It is precisely because I regard myself as a member of Xiaoxi Village that I asked my godmother to build the Xiangxizi workshop in Xiaoxi Village and distribute these high-yielding seeds to everyone. Plant together, but there is more than just Xiaoxi Village in Lanzhou County."
